Dressing tools operating under compressed air and vacuum lines are very well known in the prior art. Such prior art dressing tools which are hand held are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,590,785, 3,147,513 and 3,526,018. These prior art dressing tools or eviscerators generally use a rotatable cutting member in combination with a vacuum drawing mechanism to cut the area around the anus and pull the entrails from the poultry being cleaned. The main problem associated with the latter two patented devices is that the main intestine is not supported during the cutting operation. There is an extreme danger that the main intestine itself may be severed and the poultry consequently contaminated during the cutting operation.
The poultry dressing tool as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,590,785 uses a solid threaded probe which is inserted into the external opening of the main intestine and acts only as a guide for the rotating cutter. In that particular prior art device, the pilot or guide rotates as it enters the vent to provide support for the portion of the fowl to be removed.
In all of these prior art devices, the dressing or cleaning operation and the sequence associated with the operation of the dressing tools is left completely to the operating personnel. The cleaning operation, therefore, is only as fast as the particular operating personnel happens to be. In addition, there is no insurance that the poultry being cleaned with these devices will remain uncontaminated due to misplacement of the rotating cutting device or a lack of removal of any waste material present in the main intestine.